Heritage Financial in Olympia, Wash., will soon have a new president. The $7.1 billion-asset company said in a press release that Bryan McDonald will also become CEO of its bank on July 1. He will succeed Jeffrey Deuel, who will remain the company’s CEO until May 2025 when he will take on an advisory role. McDonald has been the bank’s president and chief operating officer since 2018. "Jeff and his team led

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency wants to expand its guidelines for recovery planning standards to more banks. The agency, in a notice of proposed rulemaking, said it wants to expand the application of enforceable guidelines to include banks with at least $100 billion of assets. The current cutoff is $250 billion. Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu referenced last year’s high-profile bank failures in the notice. Silicon Valley Bank

PeoplesBancorp in Holyoke, Mass., and SSB Community Bancorp in Spencer, Mass., have agreed to merge their mutual holding companies. PeoplesBancorp is the MHC for the $4.2 billion-asset PeoplesBank, while SSB Community Bancorp is the parent of the $1.6 billion-asset Cornerstone Bank. The banks expect to operate independently, under separate names and brands “for the foreseeable future,” they said in a press release. “Our focus is on the continued success of

General Motors Financial has withdrawn its application to form an industrial bank and receive deposit insurance. The captive finance unit of General Motors submitted its applications to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions in late 2020. The state regulator approved GM Financial Bank’s application earlier this month. “GM Financial remains confident in the viability of our bank application, which is anchored by a proven,

Greenback Fincorp in Austin, Texas, raised $2 million through a private placement. Greenback, the holding company for the $310 million-asset Austin Capital Bank, sold common stock on June 21 as part of the offering, according to data compiled by Performance Trust Capital Partners. Performance Trust did not list the amount of shares sold, pricing, or investors in the private placement.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. approved a plan by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans to obtain deposit insurance and merge its credit union into a newly created bank. Thrivent had applied for form Thrivent Bank, a proposed industrial bank based in Salt Lake City. Thrivent plans to merge Thrivent Federal Credit Union in Appleton, Wis., into the bank. Thrivent must infuse at least $280 million of capital into the bank. The

Riverview Bancorp in Vancouver, Wash., will soon have a new CEO. The $1.5 billion-asset company said in a press release that Nicole Sherman will also become president on July 1. She will also join Riverview’s board. Sherman was chief operating officer at Utah First Federal Credit Union. “With over 25 years of proven experience growing community banking organizations … Nicole Sherman is the right person to lead Riverview into the

Community Partners Savings Bank in Salem, Ill., has agreed to buy Guardian Savings Bank in Granite City, Ill. The $249 million-asset Community Partners said in a press release that it expects to buy the $32.4 million-asset Guardian this fall. The price wasn’t disclosed. “The best strategy to keep community banks alive and strong in small communities is to join forces so we can share resources and strengths,” T.J. Burge, Community